>> welcome to aljazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler. here are tonight's top stairs. new recommendations on regulating the national security agency from an independent panel, appoint a civilian to head the spy group instead of the military general running it now. it's a deal the bipartisan budget agreement passed the senate today, potentially avoiding another shutdown for up to two years. automatic spending cuts caused by the sequester. >> customers given and extra 10 days to pay their first month premiums. the extension is a response to the lingering problems with the affordable care act website. the first premium is now due o.

january 10. the federal reserve said it's reducing bond buying by $10 billion a month opinion the fed said that's because of an improving economy and more jobs. the dow hit a record high after today's announcement. secretary of state john kerry expressing regret for the treatment of an indian diplomat arrested in new york last week. those are the headlines at this hour. i will see you back here at 11:00 eastern, 11:00 pacific time. "america tonight" with joie chen is up next. here for the crime d

the lucrative business in crime. >> at their ranch house he and his wife linda keep guns and several large dogs for self protection. >> as time goes on, i feel less secure. it's not -- it's no longer if i'm going to be assaulted, it's when. >> the u.s. has tightened border security in many areas, but hess so in desolate and difficult regions like south texas.

the idea was forcing migrants to hazard the most dangerous routes would discourage them. the migrants keep coming. the border patrol declined aljazeera's request for an interview for this story. deputy martinez doesn't follow the debate over immigration reform in washington, but says attention must be paid to what's happening here. >> these persons are human beings. the fact that they're someone's dad or someone's mom, cousin, brother, relative, whatever the case might be, they're human. >> reform, if it comes, would come too late for the restless ones resting beneath the sand. >> that was rob reynolds reporting and we'll be back in a moment.

>> at this time of year, a lot of us are traveling, not always do we have the same reasons. rather than catch up with family or friends, this december, some are catching up on miles.

mileage runners as they're known are frequent flyers in limbo, only a few thousand miles from gaining or keeping their gold airline at that time at us. we went along for the ride. >> jarrod grew up afraid of flying. >> i did not want to fly. i skipped family vacations on occasion because i was so convinced i was going to die on a plane. there was no way it was happening, i was like enjoy the trip without me. my father was an aviation attorney and primarily death with plane crashes. >> the 2001 attacks on the world trade center all dinner conversations in the home. it wasn't until 2009 that jarrod gave air travel a second chance. >> i went on a long trip from here to asia, back through europe and back here, and i realized that there was a huge

amount of places in the world i wanted to see, a flight to chicago i'm going to take this afternoon will be my 115t 115th flight of the year. >> like jarrod, steve marrow was a mileage runner. we don't mean this kind of runner. >> my first mile run was back in the 1990's when pan am was in existence, and they were so poorly managed towards the end that essentially, every other flight you did, they were giving away that a free ticket. >> the new goal is status, gold, platinum and the first class seats luxury lounges and complimentary champagne that go along with it. mileage runners are willing to travel thousands of piles just to earn status and turn routine business trips into luxury getaways. >> the difference between one of these middle seats in the very back of the planes like the lavatories or sitting up in an upgraded seat, it's a huge

difference and it just makes the experience all the more tolerable. >> those seats come at a price, $25, $50 or in his case 100,000 miles in a year, giving him one case status. the only level above him, united's exclusive global service status, but it's invitation only and he's never been invited. even worse, he is on the verbal of dropping to silver, the lowest tier if he doesn't do something about it. >> i have not flown that many miles so i am kind of doing a last ditch effort tog up a gold level status so i can make the most of the miles i do already have. you don't have status and you do have a lot of miles banked, it can actually -- it's not as easy to use them. >> his golden ticket, find the lowest p.p.m., fire talk for price per mile. once you find your night, you

get out of town. he first considered a complicated itinerary to singapore via tokyo, getting him to platinum, but a good deal and a dreary new york december are setting him on that a different course, to the tropical beaches of wit with kakeikei. >> you've got stacks of boarding passes from what, just the last couple of months here? >> j.f.k. >> san francisco, san jose. >> yep. >> houston. houston. >> that was back and forth mileage running through, like 200 something bucks. i did that twice. i've never actually been to san jose despite the few trips there last month. >> flier talk and the point guy help these runners plan their trips, but other websites are a

little more dubious. >> i just found a root where i can fly from new york to houston to los angeles and back to houston on a saturday. it costs $550, takes 22 hours i'll get 5,248 miles. >> you are a freaking idiot. >> some would say this is crazy or extreme. >> i would agree with that. >> flying across the country just to get miles. >> i would agree with them wholeheartedly. it's not a pleasant experience. >> these real extreme frequent flyers are a lot like george clooney's character up in the air. >> i plan on grabbing as many miles as i can. >> what's your total? this big no. >> i don't want to brag. >> this is presexy. we're two people who get turned on by elite status. >> starting february 1, delta record flights cost more miles per trip. united is increasing the number of miles required for upgrades to destinations like europe.

that jarrod sees this as a devaluation of his hard earned miles. >> right now, i'm cashing in miles and trying to burn as many of my united miles as possible, because starting on february 1 next year, they're greatly devaluing their mile program, which is why i plan to move to american next year. >> you're breaking up with united. >> i don't want to do it. it breaks my heart. >> how many miles to do you have to burn. >> i've burned close to 800,000 miles. >> incredible! >> just a few more things to pack and jarrod embarks on a different kind of mileage run. >> to chicago, connecting there to tokyo, frankfurt to stop home, stay with my girlfriend for 10 days there. >> i think i paid $92 in taxes. >> $92 to go around the world. >> yes.

that's why miles are great. >> with that, jarrod is off own.

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>> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. here are the top stories. secretary of state john kerry putting out diplomatic fires. today he expressed regret for the treatment of indian diplomat arrested in new york. recommendations released from independent commissions starring changes in the n.s.a. security agency. the panel is calling for the end of storage of massive amount of television data e. >> the first of the two big mega million winners. a woman from stone mountain georgia matched all numbers. she